New mayors usually clean house upon taking the reins of government. In Luke Ravenstahl's case, the natural cycle was delayed because of the tragic circumstances that ushered the youngest mayor of a major American city into office.

Upon the death of Mayor Bob O'Connor, Mr. Ravenstahl, the former president of Pittsburgh Council, allayed the fears of a grieving city about his sudden ascension by pursuing his predecessor's agenda, particularly the "Redd Up" campaign to fix up and clean out city neighborhoods. Key members of Mr. O'Connor's staff were also held over.

Mr. Ravenstahl's decision to keep the controversial Dennis Regan, a political operative from Mr. O'Connor's inner circle, fed suspicions that the new mayor was not his own man. Some saw Mr. Regan, whose title was city operations director, as a "shadow mayor" and Mr. Ravenstahl his guileless young charge. It may not have been a fair assessment of either man, but it was a common perception at the time.

Mr. Regan resigned from the Ravenstahl administration in December, after accusations that he had interfered in a police disciplinary matter involving the brother of Marlene Cassidy, with whom Mr. Regan lives.

Ms. Cassidy, a fellow O'Connor holdover, was Mr. Ravenstahl's senior secretary. The mayor was surrounded by O'Connor loyalists. It was not an ideal situation. Now that he's running unopposed in the Democratic primary for mayor, Mr. Ravenstahl may be feeling secure enough to make some changes.

Last week, he announced that Ms. Cassidy and two other O'Connor aides, press secretary Dick Skrinjar and government affairs manager Anna Dobkin, would leave their positions for other jobs in city government that paid less and afforded them less access.

We see nothing sinister about Mr. Ravenstahl's moves. The longer that any mayor keeps a predecessor's loyalists around, the less likely will he be seen as his own man.

Mayor Ravenstahl has borrowed a page from the "Redd Up" campaign and used it to tidy up his own office. Eight months into his administration, we'd say he was about due.